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Sunday, November 30, 2014

My readers I have been a fan of Doug Casey's books for almost 34 years. In all of that time I have never heard of Mr.Casey being involved in a scandal,a serious lawsuit, or any kind of criminal or civil investigation. In short he is an honest man.

I accepted Doug's invitation to come and visit him for a week at La Estancia de Cafayate. This is a wine estate that he bought long ago and now is offering lots, homes and apartments for sale.

I read some negative publicity on La Estancia de Cafayate. There was a silly claim that one had to be prepared for tropical diseases like malaria, dingy, and yellow fever. I was told that this wildly over priced property development was in the center of an area of poor peasants suffering all sorts of diseases and dying too early.

I have been on six of the seven continents. I have been to areas where diseases like yellow fever and malaria are rampant including Libya and Kenya. The area around the small town of Cafayate and La Estanciade Cafayate was not such an area.

As far as property for sale being wildly over-priced and unrealistic, I found that this was an exaggeration also. What Doug Casey and his team did is to take the time and the effort to turn La Estancia de Cafayate into a world class real estate development. All utilities are buried underground. The development has its own independent and secure water supply due to an aquifer under the property that is full of water at high pressure. The development has its own sewer treatment plant. If Mr. Casey had built this development near San Francisco, New York City, Vancouver, Toronto, London or Berlin, it would have been approved by the toughest and most hard-nosed zoning boards and planning commissions.

La Estancia de Cafayate is not a hideaway for the super rich. There are a few very wealthy Argentine homeowners who have large houses. They land their corporate jets at the local landing strip. The great majority of people buying and living there are hard working professionals from thirty three different countries. Houses range from middle class to upper middle class dwelling. Apartments are also available.

As far as the claims about serious health problems, I spent an entire morning at the local hospital for the town. It is large and well-organized. It's clean.Excellent medical care is provided free of charge. Infant mortality rates at this hospital are lower than in the USA. I found out during my tour that the hospital had been copied from a Cuban hospital. People in the town were getting the same very high quality health care that Cuba is admired for.

Doug Casey, Anka Casey, David Gellen, Juan, Elisea and the entire team thank you for being wonderful hosts. I have not had so much fun in decades!!!!

Monday, November 3, 2014

NTSB says the feathering mechanism operated when the pilot unlocked it - by itself - was not supposed to actuate until the pilot commanded it to. They also said they have found the rocket motor intact.

So might not be the new engine's fault at all !

Great video interview of Doug Messinger and the photographer who witnessed and photographed the accident onparabolicarc.com

Also saw that Virgin Galactic says the 2nd SS3 is 65% complete and can be ready to go by next year.

About Me

When I was a very young man I had an incredible grandmother named Sarah Elizabeth Walters. She told me the following words: "Son don't let the grass grow under your feet." I took those words to heart and went out to see the world. My life has been ana adventure all over the world. I have lived on six of the seven continents. I have been lucky to live this long.